A Cinderella Story
You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Skyscraper by Demi Lovato
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. All rights go to Stephanie Meyers.
Chapter 1:
Courtney POV:
"Courtney!" Monica screeched. "Courtney Allison Williams!"
"What?" I shouted.
"Don't what me!" Monica shrieked. "Get down here and make your sisters some breakfast!"
I sighed and reluctantly left my warm bed. Walking downstairs, I was met with my step-monster's angry glare. "What were you doing?" Monica demanded.
"Homework," I said shortly.
"Don't try and be smart with me. If I recall I hold the key to your college funds," Monica warned. I gritted my teeth and saw my step-sisters waiting for their breakfast. Grabbing some cinnamon rolls, I tossed them in the oven since I wasn't in the mood to do anything more sophisticated. While that was cooking I made myself some hot coffee.
"No wonder she's so small," Stella said in her high pitched voice. "The coffee's probably killing her brain cells too. She's too stupid to realize that no one likes her."
I felt a muscle jumping in my jaw but chose not to say anything. It was true that I was a little on the small side at five feet and two inches. However my doctor said that it was hereditary and that the coffee wouldn't have changed it anyways.
The oven beeped and I pulled out the rolls grimacing a little at the stickiness that stuck to my fingers. "Enjoy," I said scathingly as I slapped the plates down in front of them.
"Don't give them that attitude you little slut," Monica spat.
I tried to control my anger and managed to restrain myself from reaching out to slap the sadistic smirk on my evil step-mother's face. "I have dance practice," I said.
"Slut's can't dance," Tatiana, my other step-sister said. "I bet she's the worst dancer they have. It's hard to not feel sorry for them." Stella laughed in her annoying pitch.
"Now, now, girls," Monica said with a look of utter loathing on her face. "I'm sure that Courtney will need to be off. Try not to look too ugly dear."
I went upstairs, fighting the urge to let the tears fall. I shut my calculus textbook and pulled on a sweater that hung off of one of my shoulders. After pulling on a pair of sweats and stuffing my feet into my beat-up sneakers I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs. Ignoring my supposed relatives I left the lake-house after grabbing my finished coffee and saw that Kara was already waiting for me on the curb.
"What took you so long?" my best friend asked.
"Monica," I grumbled.
"What happened this time?" Kara asked with sympathy in her voice. She was the only one who knew about my predicament with Monica and my step-sisters who seemed intent on making my life a living hell.
"She called me a slut," I growled. "Who the fuck does she think she is calling me a slut? She's the one with the boob job."
Kara snorted. "That's the attitude. You're the real thing Courtney. She's the woman that took things to the extreme to have plastic surgery just so that she could think that she looks beautiful. Hell the lady even got a nose job. How do you put up with her?"
"It's simple," I said with a shrug. "No Monica means no money for college."
"You don't need her in your life Court," Kara said. "You used to be so happy and life was always positive for you. Now you're still yourself but you seem more silent. What happened to the outgoing girl that I knew a year ago?"
"A car accident happened," I said on a heavy sigh.
"Court," Kara murmured compassionately. A long silence took over the now tense atmposphere until Kara broke it. "What about a scholarship?" she suggested. "With your skills I'd say that you're a perfect candidate."
"There're two levels when it comes to applying for college," I said. "There's getting accepted and then there's getting a scholarship. My chances of getting accepted are already slim to none so to apply for a scholarship would be really pushing it. There's only a certain number of hits that my ego can take."
"The girl I knew would never have backed down from a challenge," Kara said. "Hands down, you are the hottest girl at school."
"I am not," I protested with a blush touching my cheeks.
"Yes you are," Kara countered. "Before all of this you had guys falling for you at every corner. I'm sort of missing that girl."
"Are you saying that you want me to charm them into giving me a scholarship?" I asked incredulously.
"Why not?" Kara said. "Maybe they'll feel like having a little fun and let you in. I'm envisioning a mini-skirt, tube top, and some wicked thigh highs."
"Oh, hell no," I said. "I'm not selling my body just to get into a school. They'll probably just think that I'm desperate and send me away which would be beyond humiliating."
"True," Kara admitted. "But the option's always there if you want it."
"I'll keep it in mind," I said dryly.
Kara chuckled and pulled to a stop in front of the dance studio. "What I don't get is how you managed to get a scholarship to train here and you don't think you can get a scholarship to a college."
"There's a big difference between applying to train at a studio and applying for a scholarship to one of the biggest schools in the country," I pointed out.
Kara sighed and watched as I took a sip of my coffee. "Are you sure that stuff isn't what gives you your height?" she asked.
I sighed. "My height is hereditary," I said. "Apparently my mother was on the small side and so was my grandmother."
Kara rolled her eyes and the two of us stepped out of her car. We made our way into the studio and I nearly collided with a back. "Whoa," the guy said, turning around to grip my arms and steady me. Our eyes locked and I was suddenly lost in his gaze.
His jaw dropped and moved wordlessly. His warm brown eyes were with intensity as they stared into mine. I felt the urge to run my hands through his dark hair and find out just how soft it was.
"Hi," he murmured.
"Hello," I breathed.
"I'm Seth Clearwater," he said holding out a hand.
"Courtney Williams," I said.
His hand was warm on mine and I was sad when he released it. It was then that I realized the strong muscle lining his arms and running down his chest through the tight shirt he wore.
I could tell that Kara was smiling when she spoke. "We should get to practice Courtney," she said.
"Right," I muttered. "I'll, er, see you around Seth." He nodded and Kara tugged me away.
"I think I just witnessed a love at first sight scene," Kara said with a small giggle.
"I don't know what happened," I said. "It was probably just a stupid freeze on my part."
Kara rolled her eyes. "It's not a crime to be into a guy Court. And he is hot."
I sighed and set my bag down on the floor and started to do some stretching. "Courtney, Kara!" The two of us turned to see Kyle and Adam making their way over. "What's doing?" Kyle asked as he leaned against the bar.
"Not much," I said with a shrug. "Where're the other guys?" I asked as I cast a glance across the studio. I saw ballerinas and jazz dancers but none of the other hip hop guys. My eyes caught on Seth's as he stood next to a little girl with a tutu on.
"Sean called," Kyle said pulling my gaze away from Seth's. "They got caught in traffic. No surprise there."
Kara snorted. "Trust them to take the freeway. They probably would be here already if they walked."
Adam snickered and Liz joined us. "We're going to get warmed up while we wait for the others," she said as she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
I stood and Liz played a fast paced song for us. The beats went quickly and all of us had to work hard to keep up with it. "Lock it!" Liz ordered. We held our positions before Kyle let out a whoop and we finished off the warm up routine. "That was good," Liz said approvingly. "Let's do it again from the top. Five, six, seven, eight, go!"
Seth POV:
I watched in utter awe as Courtney practically flew across the dance floor. She seemed to flow effortlessly with the beat and never missed a single step. There was no doubt in my mind that Courtney was a naturally born hip-hop dancer.
Claire tugged on the leg of my jeans and I saw that she was also staring at the group of dancers with awe. "Cad I do dat?" she asked.
I chuckled and patted her head. "I thought you were going to be a ballerina," I said wryly.
"I wad to do dat too," she said.
"You're going to have to train for a while till you can get to that level kiddo," I said. "I'm sure Quil will be there to help you out." I let out a sharp breath and felt my heart skip a beat when I saw her do a somersault in the air. One of the boys took her by the hand and let her spin out and brought her around so that she spun on her own and somehow ended up in a handstand with one hand touching her toes.
"Seth!" I turned and saw that Quil had finally arrived. "Sorry about that man," he said. "Sam's been going crazy since…" he trailed off when I gave him a warning look. I knew that there had been new reports of a vampire in the area but there had been no deaths yet. It was a mystery as to why the leech was hanging around Seattle but we intended to take care of it before anyone got hurt.
"You're free to go," Quil said.
"I think I'll stick around," I said and Quil studied me carefully before a slow grin spread across his face.
"Who's the lucky girl?" he asked.
"Her name's Courtney," I said.
Quil followed my gaze and let out a low chuckle. "She's hot. Congrats man."
"Thanks," I said. A large group of guys suddenly came in and we made room for them to get by. Some of them were wearing caps on their heads and others were wearing jeans that hung low on their waists. All in all they seemed like the type of guys that loved to hang out on the streets.
"This is going to get interesting," Quil muttered and I grumbled my assent.
Courtney POV:
"Finally," Kara said.
"Sorry we're late," Sean said. "Had to take a little detour."
"What did I tell you about taking the freeway?" Kyle grumbled.
"Well we're here," Sean said rolling his eyes. "Let's get this show on the road."
Liz got us into position before starting the music. As we went through the routine she demonstrated some new moves that we added in. By the end of the practice I was exhausted.
I took my hair out of its ponytail and felt someone come up behind me. Turning I saw that it was Seth. "Hey," I said.
"That was impressive," he said.
"Thanks," I said with a slight blush as I swung my bag over my shoulder.
"Do you… maybe want to do something?" Seth asked hesitantly.
"I can't," I said regretfully. "You're a nice guy but I can't afford to have a boy in my life right now." Seth's face fell and guilt rose up inside me. It wasn't my fault that I couldn't be more than the girl he saw at the dance studio. Damn Monica for doing this to me. Between her, my two jobs, dance, and AP courses I really didn't have time for a guy no matter how cute he was. However when I looked into his eyes I couldn't help but make up some sort of compromise. "I'm here at the studio every day though," I said. "If you feel up to it maybe I can teach you some moves."
Seth's eyes brightened up immediately. "That would be cool," he said.
"I'll see you around then," I said. Kara met up with me as we walked outside. "Before you ask, no I'm not going out with him and I told him that I'm not looking for a relationship," I said as Kara opened her mouth.
She let out a huff. "You sure know how to be a kill joy," Kara grumbled.
A slight grin formed on my face as I climbed into her car. My phone rang and I stared at the screen for a long time before finally picking it up. "What is taking you so long?" Monica's voice screeched in my ear. "Is this how you plan on getting your money for college? Your sisters are waiting on their laundry! Stop being lazy and start thinking about their needs!"
I snapped the phone shut and Kara sighed. "What is it this time?" she asked.
"Laundry," I muttered. The drive back to my house was for the most part filled with companionable silence.
"Good luck," Kara said as she pulled in by my lake-house.
"Thanks," I said before climbing out and unlocking the front door.
"Where's our laundry?" Stella demanded as soon as I stepped inside. "Ugh, you're like the worst maid ever. You're so lucky we aren't whipping you like they did with slaves back in the old days."
"If my service is too slow then you can always do the work yourself," I offered.
"Don't even think about messing with us," Tatiana said. "We have a party tonight. Get to it and maybe you could use some elbow grease this time. Our social lives are at stake and if you screw this up we could potentially ruin you."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and headed down into the laundry room. Sure enough two huge stacks of clothes awaited me. I couldn't help but think that my life could get much worse. I looked down and saw that one of the undergarments was stained red.
"Fuck me," I muttered before getting to work.
A/N: I hope you liked this first chapter. If there are any suggestions let me know in the review box below. Thanks for reading!
-Dawn